Welcome To My Nightmare
by EyesoftheBeholder
Summary: Artemis thinks she can get away from her troubled past. She thinks she can hide her secret. Set after Secrets episode. OC
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. All properties go to DC Comics and Warner Bros. This is strictly for non-profit entertainment.**

**A/N: Here's my first take on a Young Justice fanfic. I would like to thank ParamoreXO, Harley McCoy, and MistressOfRobins for beta reading! Enjoy this read!**

Gotham City

May 15 14:56 EDT

Another day of school will be over at Gotham Academy. Artemis really wanted this day to end. Hours of schoolwork just took a toll on the young archer. She immediately packed her backpack when the teacher scribbled the homework for the day. The teachers at Gotham Academy remind Artemis of "Charlie Brown's" parents whenever he gets in trouble. The school bell rang and Artemis darted towards the door. She stared into the sea of students leaving Gotham City's elite school for the affluent and intelligent. She spotted the numerous cliques the student body had already established. The football jocks wore Letterman jackets and tossed a football around like it's nobody's business. She also recognized the popular kids sporting the latest fashions and technology. The emo kids in dark makeup stood out amongst other coteries as well. Yet, out of all these cliques, she never fit in any one. It's as though she were an outcast.

However, out of the sea of unknown faces she spotted a familiar face. The girl's jet black hair flowed calmly with the light breeze. Her blue eyes gleamed like the moonlight and her smile radiated warmth to whoever talked to her. While speaking to her colleagues, she spotted Artemis and smiled. She excused herself to leave the circle. __Wait___, ___is that Zatanna___? _Artemis thought cautiously but with a hint of curiosity. As she approached the steps to meet Artemis, she waved to get her attention.

"Artemis?" the young lady asked.

__It is Zatanna! __Both ladies gave each other a welcoming hug.

"Hey Zatanna," Artemis greeted, "I didn't know you're in Gotham City."

"I'm just here for a few days," She replied, "Walk with me?" As the girls strode down the steps, Artemis felt a bit relieved that she was with someone she knew for a change.

"What brings you to Gotham?" Artemis asked.

"I'm actually here with my dad. He's conducting a League investigation with Batman and Commissioner Gordon about a heist done with magic. He wanted to take me along for the ride and I wanted to meet a couple of buddies at Gotham Academy." Zatanna said as they entered the city park a few blocks from the school.

A few meters behind thick brush and trees, a figure was hidden in plain sight of the archer and magician. Lying prone, she was a prowling lion waiting to attack at the right time. Using her mask's scanner, it observed to make a move to attack the girls. __This should be easy___, _she thought boastfully and cracked a smile under her mask.

As they head to an isolated area of the park, Artemis found a bench to sit on. Away from the public, they can have some alone time to catch up. Zatanna spotted her friend resting her head in her hands.

"Something wrong, Artemis?" She asked. Green Arrow's sidekick shook her head.

"I'm just allergic to the trees, okay?" She mumbled. Zatanna wasn't buying the excuse. She suddenly uttered:

"__Trulb tuo ruoy terc...__" Artemis didn't want to see what happened to Professor Ivo at Belle Reve done to her. She raised her head and looked at Zatanna.

"Okay, okay!" Artemis interrupted.

"That was faster than I thought." The younger girl said confidently, "And it doesn't take a magician to realize that you have something on your mind."

"I remember what you said in New York City about bringing secrets to the light. There are so many things going on. My head is tail-spinning, I swear." She sighed deeply and paused for a few seconds. Zatanna smiled, her concern appearing genuine. Artemis's habit of denying suddenly became ever present again. Ever since their escapade in New York, she respected Zatanna even more but doesn't trust her fully. Yet there's something different about Zatanna that makes her unique. She had been more open and upfront than the team combined.

Suddenly, Artemis spotted something behind the bushes a few meters away. She knew who their stalker was. The cat mask with a large grin and the green kimono were easily discernible beneath the sparse vegetation. Lying prone didn't help with being invisible. She didn't want Zatanna to find out that they were being followed. Zatanna suddenly touched her knee and Artemis immediately looked up with a hint of paranoia. The small hairs on her body resembled porcupine quills.

"Artemis, talk to me. You've got a load on your mind. I get it," She said wholeheartedly. "But...It's not healthy to keep whatever is in your mind for a long time. Denying it isn't going to help at all. All it does is to make you feel numb." Her last cry for concern in New York didn't seem to faze Artemis. But this time around, Artemis was hit hard with Zatanna's remark. She clenched her fist to hold back all the emotions.

"I...I...GET DOWN!" Artemis yelled. A barrage of shurikens darted from behind the brush. Artemis tackled Zatanna to save her from a rain of cold steel. The shurikens lodged into the bench instead of Zatanna's skull. They stood up to figure out who their attacker was, whom Artemis was fully aware of. Zatanna was surprised but still kept her guard up. Artemis reached for her quiver, disappointed when her fingers grasped her hair instead. She had forgotten that she was in her civilian clothes.

"Ugh...I feel naked..." The bow-less archer complained. Zatanna looked in surprise at Artemis's remark. "Not in a fun way." Suddenly, a small ball rolled slowly towards the duo. It lit up like a Christmas tree as it noisily beeped. It was a grenade! They ran away from the explosive and narrowly escaped the impact. However, they felt the fringe of the detonation. The two girls were on the ground, briefly shocked with the sudden occurrence. They slowly stood up and prepared themselves for battle once again. Artemis's vision became very blurry and gray as she saw smoke from the recently created chaos. When her vision normalized, a purple smoke enveloped her. Zatanna uttered the same spell as she had before they left for New York.

"__Egnahc sehtolc otni ruo smrofinu.__"

Their civilian clothes turn into their combat uniforms. Their attacker leaped from her position, unseen against the harsh glare of the sunny sky. The figure cast a shadow so immense, it felt like night as the two girls watched their attacker hover over them. Artemis removed an arrow from her quill and placed it in the middle of her compound bow.

"Lock and load," Artemis said boldly. "Ready to do this, Zatanna?"

"Let's take this creep down to the ground," she replied.

**A/N: What do you guys think? Leave a review. Chapter two is on the way. Thank you for reading!**


	2. A Red Letter Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. All properties go to DC Comics and Warner Bros. This is strictly for non-profit entertainment.**

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews and alerts so far! This chapter took a while to create. Thank you ParamoreXO and Harley McCoy for beta reading! Without further ado, here is chapter two (Ooh that rhymed ^.^). Enjoy!**

Gotham City

May 12 23:46 EDT

A local boxing gym was operating after hours. In the wee hours of the night, the run down boxing coliseum was dimly lit and quiet. The ceiling lights, whose wiring was poorly revamped, shimmered eerily across the gym. The owner was the only one present in the gym and anticipated the only patron who trains late at night. While he was reading the newspaper, he spotted a shadow in the frosted door. The door opened and in came a young lady in a denim jacket and track pants. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail. Covered on top of her hair was a black baseball cap. The young lady's face had a neutral expression as she passed the old man.

"Hello Jade." The old man greeted. She stared for a brief moment at the old man. But she turned her face down, her cap covering her face in view. The old man returned to his reading as the assassin rushed to the female locker rooms to drop off her jacket. She entered the facility to start her nightly ritual. The assassin used hand wraps to prevent her hands from bruising and injury. She extended her body to warm up as she readied to push her physical limits. She stretched her body as if it were a rubber band. She first headed to speed bag, interlocked her fingers and cracked them.

As she trained, her mind wondered to things she thought she had discarded. She took part of taking out numerous crime bosses around Gotham. Yet, she wanted to be a part of a larger picture. She wanted to be Ra's Al-Ghul's right-hand woman for quite some time. His own daughter, Talia, lost focus of the family business of restoring order based on the Shadow's standards. The bloodshed caused Talia's mind to falter under all that guilt and shame. She even fell in love with the Dark Knight for a brief combustive period. Talia's moment of weakness and insanity was an open door for Jade to become Al-Ghul's apprentice.

Another thought took her by surprise. Her own sibling, Artemis joining the ranks of the Justice League's sidekicks. _This is really interesting to see my sister being a sidekick,_ she thought. _My sister_ _joining Kid Flash and the Boy Wonder? That's going to make my life so easy. _ As her breathing slowed, time suddenly stopped, her focus at its sharpest. The musty smell of the boxing gym didn't bother her as she relaxed her tensions away by taking in deep breaths. She inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily. After numerous deep breaths, her thoughts of Artemis being Green Arrow's sidekick still lingered like morning breath though.

She started to punch the speed bag slowly. She hit the bag with her knuckles then the pinkie side of her hand. Her movements looked sluggish at first and her movements are uneven. The squeak from the rusty hinge holding the speed bag was loud and obnoxious. The old man looked up to see the commotion. But he turned back to reading his newspaper. Then as she gained speed, her uneven motion suddenly became fluid and unified. With even more gusto, the motion of the bag became blurry from the fast punches Jade threw. She hopped in step to keep her rhythm, and at the peak, the bag was indiscernible. After a steady rhythm of hits, she was comfortable to improvise her blows. She varied her style as continued to use the speed bag. The thought of Artemis joining the sidekicks was non-existent. After a few minutes of rhythmic pummeling, she threw a hard right jab on the speed bag, knocking it off its rusty hinges. The detached bag was a missile, targeting the wall-length mirror across the floor. The mirror cracked but did not break. She stared at the mirror with multiple images of herself, the smile on her face a sign of a job well done. The old man got off his seat and headed to the cracked mirror. He sighed in despair that his speed bag became a missile than serving its true purpose as a training device. He picked up the deflated bag and stared at the young lady.

"This is the third mirror you destroyed this week!" He complained. Jade didn't flinch from the old man's complaint. After all, she's the one who's keeping the gym afloat by paying the old man's monthly gym rentals. She wanted to keep the transaction unknown and sent notes with checks under the name Lola. She spotted him smiling every time he received a check from "Lola" on the last day of the month after training. Suddenly she became more humanitarian than an assassin.

As she walked away from the shard infested floor, she headed to a leather heavy punching bag to continue her training. Her punches against this new training device started out slow like before, then suddenly becoming harder as seconds turn to minutes. She began to sweat profusely as time dragged on. Every crevice in her body was filled with the salty liquid. The hits were still harder as minutes became one whole hour of jabbing and striking. Her punches were thrown with so much tenacity that she pierced the side of the bag causing the sand inside to spill gradually. The recently pierced hole became larger and the sand poured faster as she kept hitting the bag with her knee. She panted frantically as she fell down on her knees knowing her body was pushed to her limits. She stood up and left the heavy bag. The bag split open causing the sand inside to spill profusely. The old man, who just finished cleaning the damage from the broken mirror, looked in horror to see another piece of gym equipment ripped to shreds. He shuddered in disgust as he cleaned up yet another mess.

After hitting the showers and changing into clean clothes, Jade finished her training for the day. But she wasn't satisfied with her result. It's as though someone was watching her every move. She stared at the room and started to walk around it. She touched the wall to spot for anyone who was in camouflage, froze, turned around, and cracked a smile.

"I know you're in here. Hiding won't help at all." Jade provoked. Then, a few feet behind her, a piece of the wall suddenly changed its shape to resemble a black shadow. The shadow comprised of an armored suit. From head to toe, the suit of armor was colored jet black. The only thing colored were his eyepieces that were thinly streaked red. Then the helmet released a huge amount of steam. The helmet split open lengthwise through the middle. The head piece slowly withdrew to the back of its head. As the steam from the helmet vanished, a face of a man slowly revealed itself. The bald head was the first obvious feature. His eyes were pewter pods that reflected no humanity. His left eye had a slash mark over it. The scar was white but he had the ability to open his eyes. His complexion was young and looked to be in his mid-20's to early 30's. His thin lips made his frown unnoticeable. His nose was a small and crooked in the shape of a zigzag.

After the helmet was retracted back into the armor, the suit morphed into a business suit. The helmet vanished along with anything armor related. A blue blazer with a white buttoned shirt and a white striped blue tie took the place of his chest armor. His leg armor changed into blue silk pants. The gloves vanished, revealing bare hands. His boots became black and white leather spats. The clean cut gentleman clapped in amusement that Jade had found him while in stealth mode. He smiled to show his approval.

"Bravo, Jade!" The other assassin cheered in his gruff Welsh tone. He circled around her for any physical imperfections.

"My, My. I wonder who my potential victim is?" She said jovially. The man stopped circling her. He stepped back and crossed his arms.

"My name is Storm Grimsilver and I'm a close associate of Ra's al Ghul's. I am in charge of recruiting possible entrants for further advancement in the Light. You have a good rapport with completing the tasks given to you from the Light. All but one task: the incident at Gotham City and Serling Roquette. You were in charge of the team that coordinated that assault. You went out of the way to finish the job by sacrificing your team members in the process..."

"Are you going to audit my bank statements next?" Jade inquired. Storm shook his head in disagreement. She raised an eyebrow as she tried to hold back her anger.

"We need people like you." Storm said, "Driven, headstrong individuals that can get the job done at whatever the cost. I'm not here to be hostile. I am here with an offer. An offer you can't refuse."

**A/N: Well so what do you guys think? Drop a review. Thank you for reading and chapter three is on the way!**


	3. Do Not Disappoint Me

******Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. All properties go to DC Comics and Warner Bros. This is strictly for non-profit entertainment.******

******A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the alerts and review from the last chapter. Also kudos for ParamoreXO and Harley McCoy for beta reading thus far. Here it is, h******ere's chapter three. Please read, enjoy, maybe even drop a review!************

****Gotham City****

****May 15 15:46 EDT****

"Target acquired," the illusory figure said into her earpiece. Lying prone in the city park underneath the dense park vegetation, she spotted Artemis with Zatanna. __This just made my day___, _the assassin thought sardonically. "Permission to engage, Storm?"

"Permission granted Jade." Storm replied through her earpiece. "Do not disappoint me."

_**Gotham City**_

_**May 13 1:24 EDT**_

_"___What offer are you proposing?" Jade asked reluctantly. Storm took out pictures underneath his jacket pocket. It was surveillance photographs of Artemis in her Gotham Academy uniform and her paraplegic mother. __

__Storm looked tentatively at the assassin. ___"___A job." __

_"___What's in it for me?" Jade implored.__

_"___Satisfaction, prestige, and and a promotion within the Shadows."__

__Jade shuffled through the photographs of her mother and sister. ___"___What do you want me to do?"__

_"___Take them out," Storm dictated. "We noticed you have loose ends in your life. If you do as you're told, I guarantee that you will move up the ranks within the Shadows. Maybe working solo instead of working with Sportsmaster. So...are we in agreement?"__

__Jade grinned as Storm gave the details of her mission. She didn't want this opportunity to go idly by. This was the chance that she always wanted. Jade wasted no time for a response,___"___I'm in."__

_"___Very good," Storm replied. "Do not disappoint me." Jade inspected at the photographs once more and glanced up to see Storm vanish in a vale of mist. She stared at the images again and one caught her eye. It was an image of Artemis leaving her home in her Gotham Academy uniform. Suddenly the ____photograph came to life and Artemis's head had turned at Jade as though she recognized her. Her face ____was full of surprise and dread. But as Jade blinked her eyes, Artemis face was back to her original position looking down.__

The feline assailant detected Artemis conversing with Zatanna about something heavy. Her head was hidden beneath her hands. Zatanna tried to comfort her but Artemis was too arrogant and dense to accept the gesture. __Like mother, like daughter___, _Jade thought, __too numb to even accept help___. _Uncovering her face, Artemis stared close to where Jade was hidden, and eventually pinpointed her not far behind. Jade was calm and collected when her sister found her. Her body was motionless as though she blended with the grass. Not a single muscle twitched when she was spotted by her sibling. Artemis, on the other hand, was unsure how to react with the developing circumstance. She froze as though Zatanna's paralyzing spell was cast on her. From head to toe, she was as stiff as a board. The surprise and dread became reality as her facial features resembled the picture from Jade's daydream. Zatanna touched Artemis's knee and her brief paralysis ended. She stared at Zatanna and mumbled something incoherent.

"Well what are you waiting for? Christmas?" Storm commanded through Jade's earpiece. "Eliminate them!"

"My pleasure," Jade assured as she took out her shurikens from her utility belt. She craftily shifted her body into a crouched position to better her aim. She hurtled the metal shards at the duo like playing cards. Artemis tackled Zatanna out of the throwing star's way. The shurikens landed on the park bench instead of Zatanna's skull. Jade then took a metal sphere out of her pocket and pressed a button, causing the weapon to light up and beeped incessantly. She slowly rolled the ball out of the undergrowth. The beeping became rapid and the bomb exploded to kingdom come.

She stood up and leaped out of the tall brush, spotting Artemis and Zatanna in full combat gear. Jade was surprised by their quick attire change, but adapted with the conditions. She landed feet first and removed her sais from their sheaths. "My, my." she said delightedly, "Dear Artemis has a playmate now. Too bad this little chit chat has to end so soon." She lunged at the archer and tried to stab her with the sais, but the agile Artemis dodged every strike she threw. Using her bow as a makeshift shield, Artemis blocked every one of Cheshire's slashes. Each intense strike sparked metal shrapnel. Artemis threw a punch and clipped Jade in the midsection, causing the masked assailant to reel backwards. Artemis attempted another shot at Jade. But Jade tripped Artemis down with a low kick, incapacitating her for a moment.

"Aww... Did Black Canary teach you that? So original, my dear..."

"__Etativel hcneb___..." _Zatanna started to chant, but Jade interrupted the spell by lobbing a small ball that turned into an x-shaped piece of tape. The tape landed on Zatanna's mouth, therefore causing her to stop speaking. The magician tried to remove the sticky substance off of her face with all her might, but it was all for naught. Jade grabbed the mute magician by her shirt and threw her into a nearby tree. The force of the throw caused Zatanna to lose consciousness as she slid down the trunk.

"Keep those magic tricks for a kiddie party." Jade taunted. Down on the ground, Artemis grabbed her bow and pounded the concrete floor with anger. She dashed towards Jade and shot arrows non-stop. Each arrow didn't make their mark as Jade dodged them. Until one of her trick arrows with a boxing glove tip hit Jade square in the face. She fell down on her knees from the arrow's intensity. Artemis smiled in relief that one of her arrows was a direct hit. Jade slowly stood up, her mask partially cracked in the middle. She lightly chuckled as she regained her composure. "Not using real arrows?" she asked. "I am so disheartened. Are you going to turn me in? 'Cause I'll gladly turn myself in. But then...You don't want me to spill the beans about who you really are, now don't you?"

Jade prepared her hands as though she wanted to be handcuffed. Artemis released the tension of her bowstring sighing in despair at Jade's taunt. She knew the inevitable was going to happen if she turned Jade in. The deep secrets that she had hidden oh so well for the past few months would all go up in smoke. But out of instinct, she decided to pull one more shot with a trick arrow. Artemis herself didn't know why she stretched the bowstring.

"Come on little sister. Take your best shot!" Artemis released the bowstring and the arrow traveled hastily towards Jade. She turned her body sideways, missing the arrow's trajectory, and threw a throwing knife that hit Artemis in the shoulder. Artemis removed the knife and clutched her hand on her shoulder to stop the bleeding. Her body took a toll from the prior shot as she collapsed on her knees. Jade nonchalantly advanced towards the injured archer and kicked Artemis's bow out of reach. She twirled her sais like a toy as Artemis crawled away from her. Her vision started to blur as she started to lose consciousness.

"Now this won't hurt a bit," Jade assured. All Artemis could do was shield herself with her uninjured arm. Just as Jade prepared to kill Artemis, two rock slabs crushed the feline assailant like a bug. Zatanna recovered from the throw with the x shaped tape still lodged on her face. Artemis was astonished that Zatanna could still create spells while mute. With Jade subdued in a pile of rocks Zatanna rushed towards her injured teammate, wrapped her arms around her, and haltingly walked away from the park.

"How did you do that?" Artemis asked, thoroughly intrigued. While walking, the magician pointed at the ground to scribbles of writing. The indicated words spelled: _s___ckoR bmotne erihsehC___. _"That was pretty neat. Zatara taught you well." Zatanna tried to smile but winced, forgetting that the x-shaped adhesive was still stuck on her. The pair hobbled away from the park battered and bruised, but still victorious.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading this far. Drop a review if you like. Chapter four is on the way!**


	4. An Omen

**_A/N: HEY GUYS! I have been in a long hiatus for about a year now. But I'm Back. New and improved hopefully. Thank you who followed and made my story in your favorites. Thanks for the beta readers who are still muses to my writing. But without further ado, here is chapter 4!_**

_Location Unknown_

_Time Unknown_

_Darkness._

_The scent of brimstone filled the air like an infectious virus. There was no day or night. Just darkness. Grunts were gradually getting louder and pierced the deafening silence. Artemis in her civilian clothes was bound like cattle. Lying sideways with a gag on her mouth and blindfolded, Artemis was stranded and alone. There was no one to help her. Not even the Team can save her. But a little pocket knife tucked on her boot saved her from being bound any longer. She took the knife and snipped the ropes with no effort. She removed her gag and her blindfold. Now what? The archer thought._

_As she walked through the wasteland, she heard sniffles. As she approached a small tunnel the cries grew louder. Artemis discovered a little girl as she entered the tunnel. Her hair was bronze like the sun and tied in a ponytail. Her jumpsuit was covered in ash. But out of all the ash her eyes were blue like diamonds. As she stared at the girl, Artemis suddenly felt this weight putting her down. As she approached the little girl, she moved away just a few inches._

"_What's the matter?" The archer asked inquisitively. The girl wiped her tears and pointed at a small light at the end of the tunnel. A yellow dot can be seen towards the horizon. Then a small patch of green was seen below the yellow dot._

"_I want to go home," the little girl said slowly. Artemis slowly reached out her hand and the little girl grabbed it quickly. She dragged her quickly. She doesn't know her own strength Artemis thought angrily._

_As they started to walk out of the tunnel, the little girl's face lost her tension. The red landscape turned to green. The ashes turned to patches of grass. The burned down tree trunks burst with life as birds depart out of the trees. What's going on, the archer thought. The little girl stared at the archer curiously. She tugged her long shirt sleeve as Artemis lowered to the little girl's height._

"_What's your name lady?" the little girl asked. Artemis was surprised the girl's attitude changed from dread to curiosity._

"_My name is Artemis," she replied, "What's your name?"_

"_Well…" The little girl paused, "My name is…" Then a thundering roar pierced the air. The green oasis returned to a barren wasteland. The trees were nothing but smoldering embers. The yellow dot became crimson bloodshot. Then suddenly, a roaring beast shot out of the dot like a bat out of hell. The majestic beast hovered and spotted the girls from miles above. The beast rushed toward the girls with so much vigor, it created three sonic booms in its path. The dragon landed steadily on all fours. The giant lizard's green scales glimmered like jade as the dragon breathed slowly. The dragon's snout smoked like a chimney and brimming with ash. Its wingspan was as long as a giant aircraft. It's chest beating orange to match its heartbeat. The dragon's eyes cobalt and clouded like a black hole. Its gaze stared right at the girls. Artemis stood frozen and warned the girl:_

"_Whatever you do, don't…" The girl disappeared, "Why do they always run?!" The dragon roared furiously and rushed towards the unarmed archer. The dragon flew over her as Artemis ran for her life. Artemis found the little girl in the dead brush crying her eyes out. The little girl instantly hugged the archer. Artemis wrapped her arms around the frightened girl. She whispered it's going to be okay…It's going to be okay... From the skies, the dragon scanned slowly for the archer. Being that the area was open valley, it wasn't long until the dragon spotted Artemis._

_The dragon darted from the sky and landed a few feet from the girls. It roared once more but the archer was undeterred. The little girl held her grip on the archer as tight as she could. Then suddenly the dragon stood on its hind legs and stomped the ground causing the ground to make waves of dirt and rock. The shockwave sent the girls flying like leaves._

_My kingdom for a bow and arrow…Artemis thought. Lying down on the cracked ground, Artemis slowly stood up. As she rose, something snapped that caused her fall down once more. Her right leg bled as the crimson liquid permeated her pant leg. She dragged her leg as she tried to find cover. But it was too little too late. The dragon landed with a triumphant thud as it spotted Artemis. The little girl was lying on the ground unconscious from the shockwave. But the dragon turned its attention away from the archer to the little girl._

"_NO! Don't do this." The dragon turned but ignored the archer's cries. "YOU WANT ME?! TAKE ME! TAKE ME!" The dragon's chest glowed orange as the dragon started to blow its magnificent embers. The fire slowly reached the top of the dragon's throat. The dragon opened its mouth and the fire exited full force. All Artemis could do was watch…_

_Watch._

Gotham City

May 16 0300 EDT

Artemis slowly opened her eyes. _It was just all a dream,_ Artemis thought, _but it felt so real._ She slowly rose off of her bed and winced. Her torso was bandaged. She suddenly recalled her scuffle with her sibling. _Now who would do…_Artemis stepped off her bed and kicked something. Zatanna slept on the floor with nothing but a stiff bed sheet and a hard pillow.

"Oh, Zee…" Artemis whispered, "You didn't need to do…"

"You're welcome." Zee mumbled silently as she turned away from the archer. Artemis was surprised how she heard that. As she stared into the Gotham City skyline, she thought of what had happened yesterday. The way Cheshire ambushed her. It was deliberate. When she stared the feline assassin, it was different. Her glare painted death. She really wanted something so badly that she would kill for it. Not something found on her MO. There was something off about Cheshire. Something…

"Hello, Artemis."

_**A/N: Chapter 5 is on the way so stay tuned!**_


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